Dad
by LMG
Summary: Trails of Blood 4. Harry no longer wants to play at sleeping. It is time to wake.


Thank you to ALL my readers and reviewers!

Thank you to my BETA'S LadyJaynePaisley and GoldenSunnyGrl. They are the best!

Disclaimer: Not mine, never will be. They, Harry Potter and other characters belong to J.K. Rowling. James Malfoy, loveable son of Harry and Draco, is all mine. So back off you can't have him.

ENJOY!

****

DAD

The harsh sobs had been quiet for a long time. Harry's breathing had returned to normal and he had exhausted the last of his strength when he had wiped the tears from his face. He now was staring, unseeing, up at the ceiling. 

He went over the brief glimpse he had had of Draco and he did not remember seeing a ring on his finger, so, maybe he hadn't married. Since James was his son, his and Draco's son, he may not have found someone to take Harry's place, yet. Thought really, if he had of Harry would have no one to blame but himself. 

His head began to hurt again so he tried to push all those thoughts away. Minutes later he had reached a calmness he had not expected to feel. He breathed evenly and that helped calm him both physically and mentally. He forced his mind to go blank and to push the pain to the back of it. He could still feel it howling for release though but he didn't have the strength to do anything more than stare up at the cold white ceiling. 

His eyes closed slowly and he sighed as he faded into the blackness that his mind and body needed to heal. He slept deeply like that for days not even moving when they came in to move his limbs around. He floated in the blackness waiting for the next time he could rise into consciousness.

~`*`~

He woke abruptly when he felt a hand squeeze his own. Slowly the sounds of the room became clearer. He welcomed the weakness in his body because the shot of pure fury that slammed into him when he recognized one of the voices would have had him standing and ready to fight. As it was, the laughter of the others in his room covered up the whimper he was unable to stop from escaping. 

The hand holding his squeezed harder and he heard the voice of his son move closer to his ear drowning out the other voices in the room. Slowly the tension left his body as he concentrated on the calm soft voice of the son he had just found. "I'm sorry. Oh Daddy, it'll be o.k. I promise. I will make Daddy bring me everyday and we can work on everything. We can surprise Daddy."

He froze again and instinctively tightened his grip on James' hand when he heard the teasing voice of his best friend question his old lover. 

"So, mate," Ron said laughingly, "I saw Don the other day. He told me something _very _interesting." Draco laughed and it shot knife like pain down deep in Harry's chest. His hand squeezed his sons hand even harder as he fought the growl he could feel growing in his throat. 

"Oh shut up Weasel." He said but you could hear in his voice that he didn't mean it.

Hermione laughed and added, "So..." leaving her question hanging in the air.

Harry could hear the smile in Draco's voice as he answered the unasked question, "I might." Hermione squealed and the grunt that followed told Harry that she had probably just launched herself at Draco.

"Well done Malfoy. Now, get your ferrety hands off my wife before I hex you." Ron said dryly. "So, when's the date?"

Draco chuckled and the resulting noise meant that he had dislodged Hermione from around his lank frame. "June 19th."

"But Draco, that's only two months away. Oh we need to plan and let everyone know. Oh and a party..." Hermione protested.

"Mi..." Ron interrupted his wife, "Two months is plenty of time to..."

A knock interrupted what Ron was going to say and Harry wanted to cry out in frustration. Just who the hell was Don? He began to shake with the force of his fury and the exertion of keeping himself perfectly still. He could hear James' whispering in his ear to calm down but all Harry could think about was who the hell Don was and where was Draco going to go that they needed to plan a party? He was losing control and he knew that soon he would not be able to conceal the fact that he was awake.

With another barely concealed whimper he fell into the darkness once again. His last thought was that he finally knew that what he had wanted when this had all started had happened, Draco had found someone else.

~`*`~

Harry awoke slowly to the sound of his sons voice talking about something that had happened that day. He gently squeezed the hand in his to show James that he was awake and when he did not acknowledge it took it to mean that they were not alone in the room. He felt his son squeeze his hand hard enough to get his attention. Harry squeezed back indicating that he was listening.

"Daddy," came James' high pitched voice, "where is Mr. Chalmers?"

"He's went to the office, son." Draco answered absently. Harry could hear the scratching of a quill on parchment so it was obvious that he was working.

"Good."

"I know you don't like him son." Draco said lightly.

"Not a bit." James admitted honestly.

Draco chuckled but said nothing and the scratching continued as Draco went back to his work.

"So...you decided to go?" James asked after a minute of silence.

"James," Draco said in a warning tone, "we have already discussed this."

"But I don't want to go!" James whined.

What! Draco was taking James with him? No, he couldn't. Harry wouldn't let him. He would stop him. He would... would just lay there like the vegetable he was pretending to be. Harry's hand jerked as he tried to control the force of his emotions.

"James," Draco sighed wearily, "there is no one to take care of you, besides, we will only be gone a month."

"But I don't want to leave Daddy!" cried the very upset boy.

"Son, your Daddy isn't going anywhere." Draco said bluntly even for an adult talking to their child.

"Stop it! Don't say that!" James cried out angrily. "He will wake up. You'll see. And when he does I have to be here!" The boy was crying now, sobbing into Harry's side. Harry lay there dumbfounded at his sons outburst. "He will wake up. **He will. **And when he does you will be sorry!"

Harry felt the bed move as James got up and ran from the room sobbing. The door slammed shut in the silence his departure had created.

"Oh God..." Draco whispered brokenly.

Harry heard him sigh as he listened to the footsteps leave the room. He wanted to comfort his son. _He was tired of playing this game!_ Harry opened his eyes and let them adjust to the bright sunlight. Forcing himself to ignore the weakness in his limbs as he struggled to sit up in the bed he had lain in for almost six years.

He was sweating and breathing harshly by the time he had managed to get his body into a sitting position. Bright lights were swimming before his eyes by the time he had managed to swing his legs over the side of his bed. He took the time to even his breathing out and to gain some strength in his limbs before he made the first attempt to stand in six years. And an attempt it was because no matter how hard he pushed his body he just could not make it move.

__

He had to leave his panicked mind screamed at him. He could not stay here another minute. He pushed the agony he felt at leaving his son, again, to the back of his mind as he took a calming breath and gritting his teeth forced his body to obey him and to stand up. The sweat was pouring off of him by the time he had managed to stand. The room spun and he froze as he swore he saw little yellow birdies flying all around him.

__

Damn it **MOVE**! 'Mind over matter, mind over matter' he snarled as he forced his weakened body to take one step and then another as he stumbled towards the door he hoped was a closet. He made the seven steps to the door slowly and by the time he got there he was drenched in sweat, breathing was a thing of the past, and the birdies, the pretty yellow birdies, were back. He would bet his life he could even hear the chirping.

He leaned against the wall as he took the time to force his breathing to even out once again and the shaking in his legs to lessen. He opened the door slowly and groaned as he saw that it was the bathroom. _Why would they give a comatose man a bathroom? _He fell into the room and landed hard against the sink, he bit his lip to keep the scream from escaping as he already tired legs tried to hold his body up. 

The moment he touched the sink the water started flowing from the faucet. Harry slowly dipped his hand in the water as the sink filled and brought his wet hand up to his now dry, chapped lips. He refused to look in the mirror and after a few minutes his thirst had been quenched. Gritting his teeth again he turned and exited the bathroom eyeing the door on the adjoining wall. The must be the closet, he thought, I hope it had clothes in it.

Using the wall as a support he shuffled his way around to the door. After opening the door he was relieved to see a set of clothes hanging there. _Now, how to get them on? _He grabbed the clothes and turning leaned against the wall. He calculated the distance from where he was leaning to the bed and sighed. Even if he got to the bed he was not sure he would have the energy to dress himself. Time was running out, any minute now someone was going to walk through that door and Harry would never get away then.

Even if by some miracle he did get dressed he would not have the energy to apperate. He knew he was in a protected ward but not protected enough to not have a place designated for apperation somewhere close by. All he needed to do is get dressed, make it out of the room unseen, and if he didn't splinch himself, he could leave. He felt his heart start to pound erratically again at the thought of leaving James but he knew he had too. He had to get better and when he did he would come back for him.

Harry had taken two steps towards the bed when the door was flung open and his very angry son stomped in arms crossed over his chest as he glared at his father.

"Going somewhere?" James Malfoy asked in the age old Malfoy tone obviously copied from his father...part disdain and part cold fury.

Harry stared mutely at his angry son as his eyes began to water. _He would not cry in front of his son! _Harry nodded and, with a look of regret on his face, turned from his son and walked the rest of the way to the bed. He fell down on the bed just barely managing a semi-sitting position and when his vision cleared and the yellow birdies had quieted down he saw his son standing before him holding a pair of loafers.

Without a word uttered between them, James helped his father dress and when they were done he helped him to stand and walk to the door. Harry felt the strength in his six year old son and marveled at what he and Draco had created. His son was going to be very powerful, he could feel it, the power radiated from him and Harry took great delight in that thought.

As they stood before the door watching each other carefully, Harry asked the question that had been on his mind for days, "Who is Don?"

"Daddy's publicists."

"And Mr. Chalmers?"

"That's Don."

"I see."

"I'm sure." James replied with a knowing look in his eye not normal for a soon to be six year old boy to have.

Harry glanced at him and noticing the look grinned at him. James grinned back, "Good." Harry said.

"Where are you going?"

"I don't know."

Can I come?" James asked hopefully a spark in his eye.

"No."

"But why?" he demanded to know the angry look back on his face.

"I couldn't take you away from your Daddy." Harry said regretfully.

"He's had me for six years, Dad. I want to go with you." James said stubbornly. 

Harry's heart flipped when he heard James call him 'Dad'. He never thought he would live to see the day that would happen. He pushed the ugly thought aside that if he had just told Draco what was going on, instead of taking the cowards way out and attempting to kill himself, he might have heard it every single day for the last five years.

"I can't take us both." Harry said sadly.

"But I can." James said proudly and held out a key he had taken from an inner pocket of his robe.

Harry shook his head no, "they would know exactly where we were."

"Not if you changed it." His son said cheekily.

"How very... Slytherin of you, son." Harry said blandly trying very hard to keep the smile from his face. He let his smile break when James laughter filled the room.

Harry smiled proudly down at his son and murmured, "so like your father."

James heard him and grinned even harder. He let out a giggle knowing he had won. He handed the key to Harry and walked over to the table by the bed. Opening the drawer he took something form it and walked back to his father. Harry looked at the object in his son's hand and with a look to him in question retrieved his wand from his son hand.

James shrugged his shoulder at his fathers unasked question, "Daddy insisted it be here. Something about you needing it."

"Where too?" Harry questioned letting the subject of his wand drop.

"Disneyland!" the boy cried out as he jumped up and down.

Harry laughed and spelled the key to take them to the America's, mainly Florida, to a small remote cabin that he and Draco had stayed at right after the war.

He swayed on his feet as the spell drained the last vestiges of power Harry had left. He smiled weakly as he tried to erase the concerned look from his son's face. He held his hand out for his son to take. 

"Ready?" he croaked out and at James' not said the spell to activate the portkey.

Seconds before they disappeared the door swung open and startled silver eyes met angry green ones. The last thing that he heard was Draco's voice hoarsely calling his name.

And then nothing.

He never felt his feet hit the floor of the cabin they found themselves in. He didn't hear his son's anguished cry of "Dad". He didn't hear himself breath out Draco's name as the darkness claimed him. He didn't struggle as he let himself fall straight into the waiting arms of his son.


End file.
